Auto safety pushrod

Peter M. Burke · Post by **Peter M. Burke** » Tue May 20, 2008 7:16 am

I took the stock off my early Sterlingworth 20 the other day to start refreshing it for next season. The auto safety pushrod will not clear the the edge of the inletting. I also noticed a tiny crack at the head of the stock on the left side where the push rod contacts it when I attempt removal. This pushrod has a head on it like a nail. Any thoughts on removal and stabilizing the crack would be appreciated. So far all I can come up with is to file a flat spot on the push rod head to clear the stock and stabilize with superglue and seal the inletting. Thanks, Peter

Silvers · Post by **Silvers** » Tue May 20, 2008 8:14 am

Peter, a pic would be helpful. From your description it sounds like the stock head had swelled over time. Can you leave the pushrod in place when fixing the crack? If so, all the better. But if you do want to remove it I would relieve the stock head with a tiny rat tail file before I'd file a flat spot on the pushrod head. Regarding the repair if it's just a crack I'd use Brownell's acraglas and apply in the crack with one of their plastic needles. Or, you can put on the surface and blow into the crack using air from a small coffee mixing straw. Be sure the surrounding surface is WELL MASKED OFF. If the acraglas gets on the varnish you'll have a lot of trouble removing it. Mix the acraglas without using the floc. Brownells also sells surgical tubing and you can wrap the stock head very tightly with multiple turns while it is setting. The tubing will not mar the stock finish in any way. Silvers

Peter M. Burke · Post by **Peter M. Burke** » Tue May 20, 2008 5:50 pm

Silvers, thanks for the response. The reason I want to seal the head of the stock and freshen the finish is because I had some swelling problems on wet days this winter. The crack only appeared when I tried to remove the push rod and it pressed against the stock. I will try to blow in some acra glas and seal the edges of the stock. Maybe a heavy coat of wax will prevent moisture from penetrating the interior of the stock. I would hate to superglue the rod in place. Any other suggestions or advice will be appreciated. Thanks, Peter

mike campbell · Post by **mike campbell** » Tue May 20, 2008 6:37 pm

Hi, Peter,

Something is wrong, but it's not clear to me what it is. That push rod should practically fall out under gravity. The enlarged head should not enter the tunnel to get stuck unless the rod is too short. I'm assuming the auto-safe feature has been working OK? no great effort required to move the safe off? In any eevnt, I'm confused and a pic would be the best way to share the problem.

Can you go to the home page, open Disassembly Instructions and scroll to the last pic? That rod absolutely has to be free to come out. With that as reference, can you explain in more detail why it doesn't?

Silvers · Post by **Silvers** » Tue May 20, 2008 7:07 pm

As I understand the writeup, the head of the pushrod isn't entering the stock tunnel, but is hanging up when you try to pull it out of the stock. I've seen Fox guns with factory stocks that had really thick sides on one side of the stock head or the other. One had swelled so much the hammer on that side wouldn't cock because it couldn't rotate far enough back for the sear to catch. On anther I had to relieve the wood in the inlet cut to get the safety pushrod out, to make it non-automatic. One gun already had a headless pushrod in place and it didn't look homemade. As Mike said, a pic or two would sure help.

Regarding the sealing of the stock head, I just coat it with wax like is used on Barbour or Filson waxed cotton coats and put it back together. Frank

Peter M. Burke · Post by **Peter M. Burke** » Tue May 20, 2008 8:19 pm

Silvers is correct. The problem is that the head of the pushrod won't clear the side of the stock head. The auto safety works fine and the gun has been in a dehumidified safe for three months with a good fit to metal at the time of removal. I will see if I can get close up pictures. Peter

Peter M. Burke · Post by **Peter M. Burke** » Tue May 20, 2008 9:01 pm

Pictures of problem.

Peter M. Burke · Post by **Peter M. Burke** » Tue May 20, 2008 9:03 pm

Silvers · Post by **Silvers** » Tue May 20, 2008 10:27 pm

Peter, maybe it's my imagination but the head looks a little big. Maybe someone replaced it with a nail? I have one handy here and it measures ~.220" diameter at its head. Do you have a vernier or mike to measure the one in your gun? Silvers

mike campbell · Post by **mike campbell** » Tue May 20, 2008 10:49 pm

I've seen them completely headless and with several sizes of heads, but never one that large. I wouldn't hesitate to file it down and have that sucker out of there in 3 minutes. I doubt it would affect its usefulness, but if it did it wouldn't be much of a chore to make another.

Peter M. Burke · Post by **Peter M. Burke** » Wed May 21, 2008 12:02 am

The head mic's out at .222. I wonder how it was ever installed. I am trespassing on unfamiliary territory where Fox innards are concerned and hesitate to file the head unless I am sure the auto safety will still work. I must be one of those rare strange individuals who loves an auto safety for I have seen a number of them disabled. My only reason for wanting to remove the rod is to facilitate sealing the stock head and not gumming up the rod. If it seems the stock can be sealed without "forcing" the issue I will opt for that approach. This is my favorite quail and woodcock gun. I believe I may have the fabled self pointer in this gun and it is carried about 50 days per year. I took a neophyte woodcock hunter out the last day of our season. After 7 clean misses with his 12b. Beretta autoloader I moved to a new location and brought out the Fox, gave him some RST # 71/2 and he killed 3 straight without a miss. The only problem with a gun like this is that you can spend more time driving than you do hunting. Peter

fullchoke16 · Post by **fullchoke16** » Wed May 21, 2008 7:18 am

Don't be shy Pete. Take it to the grinder and slim that head down a little at a time. The worst that can happen is you'll have to make a new one out of a common nail. Safety rods are soft metal, take your time, you'll get it. Fred

Silvers · Post by **Silvers** » Wed May 21, 2008 7:46 am

Peter, with the head at .222" it appears you have a standard factory pushrod. Undoubtedly your stock head has swelled from moisture, recoil or both. If it were my gun and I wanted to remove the rod I wouldn't hesitate to relieve the wood with a rat tail file or dremel tool. Take a look at the excellent bearing you have as shown in the pics. IMO a tiny bit of wood removed is insignificant. However with that said I do think you can seal the stock head with the rod in place. I have never used varnish or similar products for that purpose so I can't offer any advice on what to use. Sorry. Frank

bbman3 · Post by **bbman3** » Wed May 21, 2008 10:24 pm

Peter , i would take my Dremel and relieve the wood so the rod can be removed.It was not touching wood when it was installed. I have several new ones if you need another one. I would use super glue to fix the crack and seal the wood at head. If wood is oil soaked you need to get the oil out. Bobby